NextGen Saint Mary's School

NextGen Saint Mary's School

LOCATION

Raleigh, NC

DATE

October 24th 2018

Time Limits

You will have 3-8 minutes to pitch your idea to the investors and guests in the audience. Your pitch should be clear and concise. It should allow viewers to understand the problem you’re trying to address and how your product will solve that issue. Your pitch can include visuals or prototypes, but should emphasize the idea itself. Pitches will be followed by a 5 minute question and and answer period.

Content

Okay, so you have an idea... now how do you pitch it? There’s not a universal formula, but we’ve come up with an outline to help you start creating your pitch:

1. Discuss the problem you’re trying to address. Engage your audience by using a personal example of a time you or someone you know struggled with the issue.2. Explain your proposed solution with clarity and conciseness. What is your product and what does it do? Talk about the value of your idea and how it will help alleviate the problem you’re trying to solve.3. Why is your product useful today? What makes it more valuable today than it could have been 50 years ago?4. Who is your target market? What group of people can benefit from your product?5. Who are your competitors? Are there other companies trying to solve the same problem using a different solution?6. Could your product be expanded into multiple products? Is there room for this expansion and development within the industry?7. What is your business strategy? What price would you sell it for and what would your profit margins look like? How are you going to find and sell to potential customers?8. Who are YOU? Talk about yourself and your experience with entrepreneurship and why you have a desire to solve this specific problem.9. Briefly cover the financials of your company or idea. Given the potential market size, how many items do you think you’ll sell in the first year? How much will it cost to make those items? Will you reinvest the profits you have remaining?

Slides/Technology

For your convenience, we will provide a universal slide deck to be used as a visual. All you will need to do is adapt it for your own idea! Please use this template to ensure that your slides are formatted correctly.

While not required, NextGen will offer a dress rehearsal on the afternoon of the live event. We will be sure to send you the finalized time once we have it. If the time we select does not work for you, or if you would like to schedule extra time, please email us at hello@hyperspaceventures.com. These rehearsals will also allow us to ensure your slides are working properly!

Pitch Stitch

Experienced pitchers’ talks appear to be effortless. However, it’s taken them years of practicing and learning by trial-and-error. To help you out, we’ve included tips on how to stitch your pitch together to make it memorable and effective. They’re what we like to call our “pitch stitch” tips…

1. Keep it tight. Don’t lose your audience by telling them a long story before eventually making your final point. Always remember that time is money.2. Make it a headline. If your product’s main use can’t fit on the back of an index card, keep condensing it. Perfect your end game and center your pitch around this idea.3. Show us who you are. Bring your audience along with you and engage them in your stories. Be vulnerable and open with your audience. Convey your passion and your audience will be engaged!4. Start big. If you have something big to say, say it at the beginning. Don’t save it for later!5. Give them a reason. Answer the question “why should they invest in me?” Whether it’s because of a process you’ve invented, or a process you’ve reinvented, give the investors a reason to choose you over someone else trying to solve the same problem.6. Prepare answers to potential questions. Pitches will be followed by a 5 minute question and answer period. During this time, the judges will ask you any questions or address any concerns they may have. Before your pitch, spend some time thinking about questions they may ask, and figure out how to either A)address them in your pitch, or B)answer them during the 5 minute period.7. Practice makes perfect. Practice your pitch, and then practice it again. And again. And again. Practice until you think you can do it in your sleep… then go over it one more time (or 100 more times… the choice is yours).

ApplyingApplications for the NextGen Pitch Competition at Cary Academy are now open! To apply simply fill out this formbefore TBD.